Friday, January 15, 2016

Alice's Pun Quilt: A Pair of Pears, Pared

From the beginning, I debated between two different puns, but
eventually I settled on the homonyms “pear, pair, and pare.”I pared a red and a green pair of pears,
arranged the pared pairs on a plate, and shot the photo outside on the back
porch against the brick wall.

I printed the photo, after doctoring it a bit on Photoshop,
using Jacquard Inkjet Fabric Sheets. Inktense Pencils in various shades of
greens and red and a bit of brown and yellow helped to brighten the colors; I
blended them with a brush dipped in water.This was the most fun part of this quilt for me!(Thanks, Jane Hartfield!)

I have a brand new machine and was eager to try it out
on the quilting.I lost my nerve,
though, as far as free-motion quilting, so stitched a gentle curving vine and
leaves using the open-toe embroidery foot, feed dogs engaged.The quilting can hardly be seen, but it shows
up a bit better on the back!

Then I fused the photo onto the background, using Wonder
Under.After fusing it, I appliqued
around the photo using the buttonhole stitch to secure it.Finally, I bound the quilt with another red
batik.

PS:This is actually
a two-sided quilt!On the back is the other design I considered. This one is based on the pun first mentioned
by Carolyn:“Blessed are the
piece-makers,” [a pun on the Bible verse “Blessed are the peace-makers”] and it
depicts various ones of us Material Mavens “piecing.”Well, sewing on machines.Some of us claim never to piece!Not me!Who makes this claim will remain nameless! I actually put together a composite, but I don't think I'll be taking over Randy's job!

I identify the "piecers" (sorry, quilt artists) in the caption. I've also posted the original composite, which of course is sharper and clearer than the photo I printed onto fabric!

Photos taken at either Quilting Adventures in 2013 (I think!) or in Nantucket (this
past spring!)
From the top, left to right: Jane at QA, Nedra in Nantucket,
Carolyn and Sara at QA. Middle row: Andrea watching Lois sew in
Nantucket; Alice at QA; Sara in Nantucket. Third row,
Tricia in Nantucket; Jane, Gail, and Alice at QA.

Very clever, well done! I love that you pared your pears to photograph ( instead of constructing out of fabric ), with the brick background. Looks like you really enjoyed the entire process while creating this quilt.

Alice, this is really great. I love the photo and colors. You must be a painter as well as a quilter. One of these days I will learn more about using the computer to tweak my photographs, make composites, and print onto fabric.

Alice .... Your quilt is BEAUTIFUL ! I can hardly wait to see it in person ! Your photograph and transition to fabric is gorgeous, and I think you win the prize for using the most puns in a narrative :-D Thanks for giving us such a great challenge !

Some Super Websites!

The Material Mavens

We are a group of art quilters who come from various parts of the United States, from the East coast and then south to Arkansas and Texas. We were inspired by the original Twelve by Twelve international art quilting group.

Beginning in September, 2011, we started posting our 12"x 12" art quilts, which were based on themes chosen in turn by our members. For Round One, we posted quilts every two months, always on the 15th of the designated months.

Round Two of The Material Mavens began in October, 2014. Some changes were made: quilts were posted every three months, and the quilts could be be either 12"x 12" or rectangular ones measuring 11" x 14", either horizontal or vertical in orientation.

Round Three of The Material Mavens will begin in July, 2018. Again, changes have been made. Now those members who wish to stay affiliated with the group are free to post quilts every time or every now and then. Two, our blog administrator collected suggested themes from the members who wanted to remain affiliated. These themes were then pulled at random from a "hat," and they were then assigned in order for the posting dates. Since we had 13 members who wanted to remain, we will be posting quilts every 3 months until 2021! This date is significant and appropriate, because 2021 will be the 10th year that our group has been in existence.